Shocking defeat for Indian wrestler Yogeshwar in qualifying round at Rio Olympics

Rio de Janerio: Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt faced shocking defeat in the men’s 65kg freestyle at the qualification round against Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia at the Rio Olympic Games today. In a massive heartbreak for India, the London Olympic bronze-medallist's only hope of making it to the medal rounds lies in his Mongolian opponent reaching the gold medal round. Mandakhnaran is the gold-medallist from the 2010 Asian Games and a two-time World Championships bronze-winner. Yogeshwar will have to fight two&hellip;

Rio de Janerio: Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt faced shocking defeat in the men’s 65kg freestyle at the qualification round against Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia at the Rio Olympic Games today.

In a massive heartbreak for India, the London Olympic bronze-medallist’s only hope of making it to the medal rounds lies in his Mongolian opponent reaching the gold medal round.

Mandakhnaran is the gold-medallist from the 2010 Asian Games and a two-time World Championships bronze-winner. Yogeshwar will have to fight two repechage rounds before entering the bronze medal playoff.

The 33-year-old grappler from Haryana, who is playing in his fourth and, in all probability, last Olympics, looked a pale shadow of his previous self as he lost 0-3 to the Mongolian grappler.

From the very beginning, Yogeshwar failed to get around the Mandakhnaran, who moved at a very fast pace.

In the opening period, Mandakhnaran earned a point in 30 seconds due to the passivity of Yogeshwar to take a 1-0 lead.

Yogeshwar, who qualified only in March this year for the Rio Games after struggling with a knee injury, was expected to turn the tables in the second period but he just could not script a comeback.